Ken Doherty is beaten in the Wuxi Classic with Jimmy White causing the shock of the round

Ken Doherty was beaten 5-3 by Alan McManus in the Wuxi Classic first round this afternoon in China

A break of 82 gave a glimmer of light to the Dubliner when they score was 4-1 in favour of McManus.

Doherty took a further frame before the Scot edged the next 66-64 to progress.

Six-time World Championship finalist Jimmy White produced the shock of the round by beating defending champion Ricky Walden 5-2.

The 51-year-old, a winner of 10 ranking titles in his career, rediscovered some of his old break-building fluency with runs of 60, 59, 60 and 57 and, with the world number nine threatening to close to 5-3, came from 55-0 down and played a good safety on the final blue to set up victory.

"I played well to go 4-1, then it looked like going 4-3 so I was pleased to clear up. The result gives me a lot of confidence.

"The motivation for me is days like today - playing good snooker, beating the defending champion and entertaining the fans."

Stuart Bingham's good form of last season continued with a 5-2 win over China's Yu Delu and he will next face Anthony Hamilton, who beat Ryan Day by the same scoreline.

As expected, Ding Junhui led the home challenge, though he had to work hard to beat Jamie Burnett 5-3.

There were also 5-3 wins for Cao Yupeng against Michael White and Lyu Haotian against Craig Steadman.

Hong Kong's Marco Fu beat Nigel Bond 5-2 and Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng, who became a crowd favourite at the Crucible during this year's World Championship, hammered Welshman Dominic Dale 5-1.

Martin Gould, Mark King, Joe Perry, David Gilbert and Joel Walker also reached the second round.

Earlier, there was disappointment for Reanne Evans, the first female qualifier for the main stages of a ranking event, as she crashed out in the wild card round.

The nine-time World Ladies Champion from Dudley was beaten 5-2 by China's Zhu Yinghui, denying her a first-round clash with world number one Neil Robertson.

"It took me a while to get into the match because of my lack of experience in these conditions," said Evans, who at least showed her ability with a break of 79 in frame four.

"This will stand me in good stead for the future. I'll be playing in the PTCs and maybe I'll get the chance to play in another ranking event. I just need more matches in these conditions, that can only sharpen and improve my game."

Lu Ning, Vinnie Calabrese and Jimmy Robertson were the other winners in the wild card round.